Two years ago, Laura and Justin Burney faced the unthinkable: almost losing their infant daughter, Brooklyn.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) made history in 1997 when two surgeons pioneered fetal surgery to treat spina bifida, or myelomeningocele, the most common birth defect in the central nervous system.

Laura and Justin Burney watched anxiously as the platform holding their infant daughter slowly moved into place inside the CT scanner.

After 10 years working together, Chevis Shannon, MBA, MPH, Dr.PH, and John “Jay” Wellons III, M.D., MSPH, can practically finish each other’s sentences and help fuel one another’s academic ideas.

During the predawn hours last Monday, Vanderbilt University Medical Center activated its Emergency Operations Center and initiated an Orange Alert for inclement weather in response to the worsening ice storm.

A new protocol put into place more than a year ago at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is showing early signs of improving outcomes for patients with traumatic brain injuries.

When physician Jay Wellons was explaining to his son why the family was moving to Nashville, he put it in terms to which the 7-year-old could relate. “Daddy has a chance to join the Avengers,” he said.